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05/25/1999 Archived Entry: "Why do I use a foodmill?"

I don't know if you've noticed, but Foodmaven.com is now affiliated with Digitalchef.com, the largest on-line source for cookware and specialty food products. So far, for your convenience in ordering, you can click on the logo on my home page, but eventually there will also be a link for it on the links page. And ocassionally, if I recommend a product they carry, we'll make a convenient connection for you on the spot. But that's eventually.

Digitalchef.com's inventory is so vast that I haven't had time to explore it all, but I did see that they carry one of the most essential pieces of equipment I own: a food mill. The plastic Moulinex model they have for $19.95 is exactly the one I just wore out after at least 15 years of regular use. Eventually, the grating holes wear down and don't grate. But given that at the time I paid only about $10 for mine, it was a pretty good investment.

Why do I use a foodmill so frequently?

I make tomato sauce quite often -- and in the fall, apple sauce. And it's excellent for making vegetable purees -- either for creamy textured soups or sauces, or for their own sake. You can also use it to process potatoes for mashed potatoes to a much fluffier puree than an American masher. Although, for mashed potatoes, I really prefer a ricer to a food mill.

The food mill is indispensible for tomato sauce, though. It keeps back the seeds when you puree canned tomatoes. In the summer, when cooking fresh tomatoes, it holds back the skins, as well. And I do like making fresh tomato sauce with unpeeled plum tomatoes. I feel you get more flavor out of the tomatoes if you don't peel them before cooking.

I am also thrilled to report that foodmaven.com is being discovered by other food websites that would like to link to us, and that we'd like to link to you. So look for some new links coming any day. Also look for a new restaurant list or two: My "Most Useful" Italian restaurants is coming, and a list of under $20 meals in Greenwich Village, one of New York's major touristic neighborhoods.

Keep reading for a couple of recipes that many of you have requested through Feedback. And keep those letters coming.


Provencal Tian, By Popular Demand

Rozanne Gold was recently on WOR with me and Joan Hamburg, on our Saturday morning "Weekend" show, feeding us dishes from her cookbook, Recipes 1-2-3 Menu Cookbook. You can find those on the diary entry for May 14. However, I didn't print the recipe for this tian of vegetables, a side dish that Joan swooned over (and made the next weekend herself) and that many of you have since requested. Indeed, since Rozanne published this recipe about five years ago, it has become one of the most requested recipes for summer entertaining.

So here it is -- one more time.

The recipe comes from Rozanne's book, Little Meals, which has just been released in paperback by Little, Brown. I've made it a number of times myself, so the following version is ever so slightly different than Rozanne's. You know how it is: A cook can't help but put in his own two cents.

Incidentally, the French Provençal word TIAN refers to both a ceramic casserole and the dish cooked in it.


Rozanne Gold's Tian of Eggplant, Onions and Tomatoes
Serves as many as 10 to 12

1 large eggplant (about 1 1/2 pounds)
4 medium-large onions (about 2 pounds)
6 large, ripe tomatoes (about 3 pounds)
1 1/2 tablespoons mixed dried herbs, such as thyme, crushed rosemary, winter savory; or pre-mixed herbes de Provence, or about 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh herbs such as above
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh basil
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Slice the eggplant (no need to peel), onions and tomatoes as thinly as possible.

In a 12 by 8-inch rectangular or oval baking dish, make a layer of onions, then eggplant, then tomatoes.

Sprinkle with about 3/4 teaspoon of the dried herbs and the same amount of fresh basil. Sprinkle with some of the salt and pepper

Repeat the layers, sprinkling each with herbs, salt and pepper. End with a layer of onions.

Pour the olive oil over the vegetables.

Place in a preheated 300-degree oven for about 3 hours. While the vegetables bake, press them down with a wide spatula/hamburger turner about every 30 minutes and remove accumulating liquid with a bulb baster or large kitchen spoon. At first the liquid will be just from the vegetables. Eventually, you will be drawing off oil as well. (Save the juices for another use: for a soup or stew base, cooked down slightly as a sauce for pasta, or simply for dunking bread.)

When done, the vegetables will have reduced in volume by at least a third and they should be soft and compact. The top layer of onions should be well caramelized. Timing is approximate: it make take as much as an hour longer.

Let cool at least slightly before cutting into squares and serving. Or serve at room temperature.


My New Meatloaf

The motivation for creating this meatloaf recipe was simple. I had four people coming for dinner and stashed in my freezer was five pounds of ground beef left over from a Naples At Table book promotion event -- I made meatballs. If I didn't defrost and use the meat immediately, it would be lost.

The rest of the ingredients are just ingredients that I had (and anyone would have) in the house that day, except perhaps for those cans of Hunt's tomato sauce that I had stocked in the pantry for just such a meatloaf. Canned tomato sauce (either Hunt's or an old-time brand called Sauce Arturo) was, my mother always claimed, the secret to her excellent meatloaves.

I use a substantial amount of breadcrumbs in my meatloaves these days, which my mother didn't. Bread gives lightness, I've learned from my Neapolitan friends, who are supreme at stretching a bit of ground meat into fantastic food.

When I made this loaf -- just for a Sunday supper for some neighbors -- I thought it was good, but not nearly as good as my friends thought. In a delightfully silly moment of exuberance, my food consultant friend, Michael Whitman, did a little dance for it -- literally. Michael is a tough customer, so I thought: "pretty good, Schwartz. I'll share this with the audience tomorrow." I did, but since then we've gotten so many written requests for the recipe I feel I must share it. It seems like everyone is always looking for another meatloaf recipe.
In all immodesty, it's a very good meatloaf, but please don't count on it making you break out in a dance.


My New Meatloaf
Makes 2 loaves, serving at least 8 (or fewer, with leftovers)


3 medium onions, finely minced (about 3 cups)
2 tablespoons peanut oil (or other vegetable oil)
5 eggs
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce (I used the new Angostura Worcestershire)
1 rounded teaspoon dried thyme
2 teaspoons salt
3/4 teaspoon freshly and coarsely ground black pepper
1 8-ounce can Hunt's tomato sauce (not low-salt variety)
5 1/2 pounds ground beef
1 quart fresh breadcrumbs (see note)


In a medium skillet, fry the onions in the peanut oil over medium heat until the onions are deep golden, even beginning to brown a little.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl, beat together the eggs, Worcestershire sauce, thyme, salt, pepper and can of tomato sauce.

In a very large bowl, combine the beef, the fried onions, the breadcrumbs, and the liquid mixture. Starting with a table fork, mix all the ingredients together, making sure to bring the meat from the bottom of the bowl to the top. Once the mixture is amalgamated, start using your hands to make sure it is thoroughly mixed and especially that the bread is well incorporated.

To form the loaves, scoop up half the mixture with two hands, pressing it together while still holding it over the bowl, then transfer it to a baking sheet. Shape into a loaf 10 to 12 inches long and 5 to 6 inches wide. Compact the loaf well by pressing it together, then smooth the surface (and cracks or crevices) with your fingertips.

Prepare the second loaf as you did the first. Refrigerate until an hour or so before baking, then let sit at room temperature to take the chill off the meat.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Bake for 1 hour and 10 minutes. Allow to rest 15 to 20 minutes before slicing.

Note: To make the breadcrumbs, I used a loaf of supermarket Italian bread. I sliced off the crusts and "grated" the bread, a handful of cubes at a time, in the blender. Do not overwork the crumbs or they will compact. They should remain fluffy. (Supermarket sliced bread is generally too sweet for my taste.)